The Knicks were flat embarrassed by the lottery-bound Lakers. The 31-point margin of defeat was their worst loss since a 41-point drubbing at the hands of the Celtics on Dec. 8, but it was their third-quarter performance that really set some records. New York conceded an astonishing 51 points in the third quarter, allowing L.A. to shoot 19-for-26 (73.1 percent) from the field.

The 51 points set a Knicks franchise record for most points conceded in a quarter and also set a Lakers franchise record for most points scored in a quarter. New York trailed 50-42 at halftime; 12 minutes later, they were losing 101-73.

"Fifty-one points," Jackson said, according to the Times, after watching the game from a suite. "When it’s 35 points you start to get worried. When it’s a 51-point quarter, that’s really awful."

That the Knicks' poor showing came in a nationally-televised game against the team he coached to five titles surely couldn't have helped his mood.

New York fell to 29-42 on the season and now sits three games back of Atlanta for the East's No. 8 seed with 11 games to play. Their next four games will come on the road, beginning with a Wednesday night game against the Kings in Sacramento. Tuesday's loss also guaranteed that the Knicks will have their first losing season since 2009-10.

"I started my career as a Knick, and know what it feels like to win in this great city," Jackson said in a prepared statement last week. "I take the task of helping to deliver a winning team to our fans seriously."

The Zenmaster, who won two titles as a player and 11 titles as a coach, promised to reform the Knicks' culture.

"We want to build a team," Jackson said at his introductory press conference. "A team doesn’t have an ‘I’ in it. … This is a franchise that developed a team back in the 1960s that was consistently playing team basketball for six or seven years. … The idea of developing a ‘culture’ is an overwrought word in the NBA right now, but that’s the cachet that brought me here.”